Madé Lapuerta, a fashion enthusiast and Harvard graduate, has reverted to the basics of all industries – numbers – to find the perfect algorithm for trend prediction. Her website, Data, But Make it Fashion, aims to research and report on what is gaining popularity through the use of “AI image recognition models and data analytics software.”

With Lapuerta and DBMIF’s goal to “close the gap between fashion and technology [and help] high-fashion/luxury companies adapt to technical disruptions,” she brings to light the true secret to trend prediction—data analysis.

Simultaneously, she makes fashion more approachable. By keeping the numbers digestible and with straightforward explanations such as “+X% in popularity” or “seen in X% of collections,” just a quick scroll through the website allows fashion enthusiasts of all levels to understand what is on the come up. No actual work besides reading and absorbing the numbers is required for the reader, as clicking on the photos leads to hyperlinked products like Jacquemus bags and Anine Bing turtlenecks. And, according to Lapuerta’s TikTok, instead of having to watch every show that occurred in Fashion Month, simply heading to her site will give you updated rundowns of what is trending on the runway.

DBMIF and its growing fanbase is exactly the breath of fresh air that fashion needs. The industry is in a rut as the increased pressure to be trendy continues to throw hurdles at consumers; these challenges include, but are not limited to, the unstoppable rise of fast fashion, rising prices in light of the falling economy, and a wildly unpredictable trend cycle that has returned but at an astronomical turnover rate. Media is influencing the popularity of brands, materials and items—and with every dupe discovered and sold out, it hurts the original designer, their company, and the integrity, care, and love put into the design itself.

Especially as consumers get older, it feels increasingly pointless to try and keep up; for many, money isn’t pocket change anymore, but rather rent, groceries, business attire, and gas, so looking at what is statistically trending is a great way to be more financially conscious.

If anything, though, the turn to hard numbers and facts to tell consumers what is objectively worth spending money on, still feels incredibly ironic when looking at and into the industry as a whole. In the industry, it is about finding the shiny, new toy before any other publication or journalist can get a story out; for designers, it's about being bold and taking risks; and for stylists, it is important to see what doesn’t work, what has proven to work, and what may work.

Yet as a consumer, mainstream fashion is about fitting in and being on trend. Herd mentality is the key to not standing out in a negative way, and even street style has changed from unique and eye-catching to sometimes unique but mostly pretty, flattering, and trendy. And while fashion as both an industry and a culture is not about fitting in, it still is a cat-and-mouse game with the math and predictions of future “it” items through trend analysts or sites like DBMIF.

So, then is it time to start ignoring the trend cycle? Should fashion be stripped down past its skin of binary and percentages and into just bones where true fashion lies?

As DBMIF has already begun to pick up on the increase of elevated basics, neutrals, and pops of color – such as red ballet flats at a reported 71% rise in popularity—it seems that the trend cycles have already hinted at the answer: it is no longer about “where” but about “who.”

The most popular items reported by DBMIF have been the platform Uggs, which have seen a 1001% increase after Bella Hadid was spotted wearing them in New York. So, as hard as designers and writers may try, it seems the key to trendsetting lies in the hands of it-girls like Bella Hadid, Devon Lee Carlson, Matilda Djerf, and more. And while trend prediction will never be 100% accurate, maybe, just for now, there’s nothing wrong with basic arithmetic.